Osaka/Sakai (blade manufacturing capital), Edo period; Sakai City still produces 90% of professional Japanese knives
The yanagiba (willow blade) is the quintessential sashimi knife of Japanese cuisine — a single-bevel blade 270–360mm long, designed to draw through fish in one smooth pull stroke to produce cleanly severed muscle fibres without compression or tearing. The asymmetric grind (flat on the back, hollow on the face) creates a 'clinging' cut surface that reflects light: in formal kaiseki, the sheen of a sashimi cut is itself an aesthetic signal. Sharpening requires maintaining the ura-oshi (back hollow) and never altering the single bevel angle, typically 10–15 degrees. Regional variants include the takohiki (squared tip, Tokyo/Edomae tradition) and the fuguhiki (thinner, more flexible, for paper-thin fugu sashimi). The blade must be taller than the protein being cut — a short knife requires multiple strokes, bruising the flesh.
The physics of a clean cut matters to taste: torn fibres release more liquid and oxidise faster; a yanagiba cut retains moisture and structural integrity longer
Single-bevel asymmetric grind for clean pull cuts; blade length exceeds product height; one uninterrupted stroke per slice; hollow ura-oshi preserved in sharpening; wet blade reduces drag.
Draw blade tip-to-heel in one stroke; dampen with damp cloth between cuts; store on magnetic rack or in saya sheath; never dishwash — thermal shock warps the steel; Japanese white steel (shirogami) takes keener edge than stainless but requires dry storage.
Multiple saw strokes compress muscle; incorrect sharpening modifies bevel angle; using push cut rather than pull; cutting cold hard fish at refrigerator temperature (muscle should be 5–10°C, slightly tempered).
Tsuji, Shizuo — Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art; Koizumi, Shinzo — Japanese Kitchen Knives